The Warmth
by paleMistress
Summary: Set in the near Future. Another Helga+Arnold. Single-Parter. Well, it's hard to explain, so you'll have to just trust me and read it. It's got a happy ending, of Course. R&R.


Hi again everyone! OK, ur all probably saying, "WHAT IS SHE DOING?! WHY WON'T SHE FINISH   
HER FIRST STORY GODDAMMIT!" Hehehe... I have a good excuse! Well, you see, my 'puter got a   
VERY bad virus :'( and I had to get a new one. Dat's right, I'm writing you from my BRAND NEW COMPUTER!   
Anyways, the guy that brought in this new 'puter for me is gonna see if he can find my Text files in my old 'puter   
(Which, by the way, would include the half-finished chapter six of Understanding Helga) But, while I   
was waitin' for this 'puter to arrive, I thought up a little fic...   
So just read it and review, and if you hate it, you get to rant to me! ^_~   
  
Disclaimer- Somebody up there doesn't like to work with me!I keep on wishin' an' hopin' an' thinkin' an'   
prayin'...but I still don't own Hey Arnold!   
  
Oh, and just a note- Helga and Arnold are both a lot older in this fic. How much older? Well, they're still young,   
but...aw heck, you people just read and figure it out!   
  
~*~The Warmth~*~   
  
Helga G. Pataki stood by herself, the silence terrifying her, causing beads of sweat to trickle down her forehead and   
neck. She ran her fingers through her unusually long hair as the wind tangled it feverently. She had taken   
off her shoes before she had stepped out onto the rotted-wood dock of City Lake, and was now in her stalking feet,   
on the edge of the filthy planks. She glared at the cold, murky waters lapping at the poles greedily.   
Calling her.   
In her mind, she could see the situation playing out. And her electric blue eyes burned with her suicide thoughts. But   
she knew she couldn't let this go. She couldn't let the chance to end her pain and misery pass her by. But, in the back   
of her mind, she could hear a tiny, rarly heard voice speaking to her,   
~Arn't you worried? Are you sure?~ it said to her, and she chuckled sadly.   
"I'm not worried about a single thing, not anything." she whisperd quietly to herself, "It's my fault that none of them see   
through this pathedic little game I play. It's all my fault, and I just want the world to stop."   
Her toes gripped the edge as her head spun in a wild panic, and Helga prayed for the strength to jump.   
She took out her locket of her only love, and began to cry, only no tears would fall. Her last real emotion, reduced   
to a dry sob. She pressed her fingers to her lips, then to the cool glass which held his ever-smiling picture.   
"I wish I could've been with you." she whispered hoarsly to the sacred image. Her numb fingers faultered, and the   
locket dropped onto the dock. Helga could only watch as the glass shattered into thousands of shards. Yet the   
picture remained, forever frozen in time.   
She let the locket be. What use would it be to a dead girl? Her eyes swept over her surroundings. She breathed in   
the early winter air and exhaled, slowly, watching the heated mist rise from her mouth. Her heart pounded and she   
was suddenly struck by a fear of death. Her mind worked franticly, realizing this lake would be the last thing it   
would see. Maybe it wasn't too late to let everything go. Everything that she had held for him. Just pretend that it   
had never been there. The emptiness. Yes. Or perhaps she could still be in love, and be content with her dreams. The   
place where she would meet him, and could love him openly. But...no. They were just dreams. They had once made   
her happy, but they couldn't anymore. She had accepted that that was all they were, fantasy. And the   
joy she got from them would never last in the real world. She couldn't deny that anymore.   
She closed her eyes, and could almost see him. So Beautiful. So Pure. So Perfect. So...impossible.   
"Why did it have to be like this? Why couldn't you have just been mine? I love you." were her last heart-broken words.   
She knew that he was where it all began. If he haden't been there, she would've never known what kindness was.   
Would've never craved for it so much. But his heart was with Lila. Damn him! Why had he held out that umbrella   
for her? Why had he ever cared? And now this was where it would end for her. Unseen, Unknown, Unloved. And   
as much as Helga didn't want to blame it on him, it was because of Arnold that it was going to end like this. He   
gave her the attention...then took it away...then brought it back again. It was like a dealer supplying drugs for her   
eternally unsatisfied addiction. A yo-yo-ing effect that did nothing but make her miserable. But no more of that, she   
had grown tired of it. He had taken everything she had ever known to be her, away. Leaving her like this, until she   
had nothing left to hate but herself. Now she couldn't even hide behind her mask of intimidation anymore, because   
just looking at him wold cause the mask to shed itself from her, leaving her sickly and trembling. She took off   
her thin autumn jacket, and shivered as the cold gusts of lakefront wind slapped against   
her bare arms. She had never really owned a winter coat. Niether her parents or anyone else had cared about   
given her one in her days of youth, and therfore she didn't care about buying one for herself now.   
She dropped the coat to the ground, where it fell, lifeless, just as she soon would be.   
And she prepared, thinking of no one, thinking of nothing, but him.   
And then, she jumped.   
One, fluid movment into the deep, dark water. It stung her skin. A cold burning, seeping into to her body.   
She struggled to keep her eyes open. But the water pushed down on her. She fought to stay awake, but the song of   
the waves lulled her into a horrifying peace. The current pulled her arms away from her body and the cold blanketed   
her until she didn't want to stay awake, after all. Her eyes closed and she awaited whatever came next...   
"HELGA!" she heard a male's voice call out to her in fear.   
Arnold?   
She felt something dive in with her. Her eyes swung open. It was.   
Arnold.   
He grabbed her arms and began to pull her to shore. She tried to protest, but soon found her strength had been   
given to the water. Even for the well-chisled male he was, his strength was amazing. He had soon dragged her to   
the sand-covered land under the docks, and was knelt beside her, checking for life in her pale body.   
"HELGA!" he screamed, tears welling up in his desperate eyes, "What have you done?! Helga, please be awake!"   
Her eyes moved to meet his, and he exhaled loudly.   
"You're ok...Helga, Thank God, you're ok..." he murmured to her. He threw his arms around her and hugged her   
tightly. Even though he was wet, his body was warm, and the heat that was now forign to Helga pained her so much   
that she cried out and sqiurmed away from him. She propped herself up by her arms and narrowed her eyes at him,   
"HOW COULD YOU?!" she yelled finally, her voice raspy from the cold water that had almost filled her lungs,   
"Why couldn't you have just let me drown?! Can't I be left alone to DIE?! Dammit, Arnold! You should've let me!"   
"Helga, you don't know what you're saying!" Arnold said in shock, searching her eyes.   
"I know damn well what I'm saying!" she retorted cruely. Arnold grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close, so that   
the ends of their noses almost touched,   
"I *WON'T* let you!" he insisted. She turned her head, whipping her hair in his face,   
"You have no choice! It's my life, if I want it gone, then so be it!" she hissed.   
He stared at her, unbelieving, "I don't think so." he said stubbornly,   
"DOES IT LOOK LIKE I CARE WHAT YOU THINK?!" she shrieked before going into a coughing fit. She bent   
her head down, for the first time seeing the large gash on Arnold's knee. He must have cut it against somthing, and   
blood streamed out of it at a rate that suggested healing, but was still something Helga didn't like. She immediatly   
slipped into her long-dormant self and gasped, fingering the wound gingerly, sorry to see him hurt,   
"Oh Arnold, look at what you did..." she said, her tone incredibly warm and caring. She could feel Arnold's   
astonished gaze on her, but she didn't care. She looked at the blood on her fingers and shook her head,   
"It's nothing," He replied, stunned, "It just looks bad, I'm fine, I--" Helga held up her hand to silence him. Without   
thinking, she tore off the sleeve of her white T-Shirt, ripped it down the center, and used it to wrap around his knee.   
She tied it tight, so at least it wouldn't get infected. Helga looked up at Arnold, who was staring at her in what seemed   
to be a trance. She shifted away from him timidly and looked at the sand. Arnold touched his makeshift bandage,   
"Thank you." he managed to say, softly.   
"It wasn't much, but you're welcome." was her quiet responce. They both sat silent, letting the actions of the past   
few moments soak in. Helga could've lived there forever, reveling in the fact that she was with her love and was not   
being asked to preform her idiotic 'I'm better then you' show liked the trained dog she had grown to be.   
So naturally, It was Arnold who figured out they were cold. Freezing, actually.   
"We'd better get back up to the dock. I left my coat there, and so did you."   
"I don't want it." she said, her voice low. Arnold's eyes widened as his mouth turned down into a frown,   
"Helga, don't DO this!" He said, raising his voice and grasping her arm. She was forced to look him in the eye,   
"You DON'T want to die!" He told her. She looked at him, the caring face. But give it a few days, and he would   
forget about her again, and move back to Lila. He had saved her life, but she hadn't asked for it to be saved. She   
could see her reflection in his eyes. He was holding back tears. She hadn't meant to make him cry. She wanted   
to tell him how sorry she was. But she couldn't apoligise, she wasn't wrong. She hadn't made a mistake by jumping,   
it was his error, he dove in after her. And she couldn't cry. She couldn't cry on the dock while looking at his picture,   
and she couldn't cry now, while looking at him. So she did the only thing she knew how to. The only thing that had   
never failed to block people off from her when she wanted to. The only thing that kept her from screaming in agony.   
She laughed.   
A slow, loud, bitter, hurtful, spiteful laugh, and tore her arm away from him.   
"Get away from me!" she spat, "You have no clue what it's like! You don't know the shit that goes on in my head!   
I want this more then I've ever wanted anything! Even more then I've wanted..." ~You.~ he mind finished for her   
as her voice faded. Her hateful laugh echoed through her mind, and she tried to stop. Arnold's pleading face made   
her feel ashamed that she could even think about laughing. But she just couldn't stop herself, it was the only thing   
she could do, the only emotion she could cope with. And her cakle continued.   
She tried to get up, but her legs buckled from the cold, and she fell back down. Arnold, who had been watching   
her feble attempt to stand, got himself up and ran off, still drenched, his clothes weighed down by the water.   
Helga followed him with her eyes, to shocked to shout anything after him. Was he really leaving her? Just going   
off, while she was left to die? Had she truly made him not care about her? The world blurred before her as her   
mind tried to piece together her jagged thoughts. And for a moment, she thought of using was little strength she had   
regerenrated to drag herself back to the dull chill of her liquid death. But as she did, she heard the familar footsteps   
of her love once more. She turned to face the sound, and found she hadn't imagined it. He had come back, bearing   
both thier coats and an odd look etched across his well-sculpted features. He walked over, and Helga noticed that   
he was limping slightly on his injured knee,   
"Are...are you Ok?" she asked, her voice barly a whisper, the sting of humilliation now setting in for her horrible laugh,   
he nodded, "Yeah," and carfully wrapped her in the long-forgotten coat. She let him do as he pleased, to pyhsically   
and emotionally exhausted to truly care. He put his own coat on and knelt down on one knee beside her,   
"Helga, I'm going to have to pick you up." he told her, "You're not going to be able to walk."   
She turned away from him and gave him a warning growl. He couldn't have cared less. He picked her up like an   
infant and began to walk with her in his arms, like she was light as a feather. The lakefront was empty that day,   
because no one in thier right minds would've gone boating in almost below-freezing temperatures. Even Sheena's   
uncle was no where to be seen. The dock's empty booths made the place look like a ghost town, and Helga shuddered   
violently. She had choosen to DIE...in a place like this? She absent-mindedly snaked her arms around Arnold's neck   
to help her maintain balance. He looked down at her and gave her his classic half-smile. Her lips thinned into a straight,   
serious line and she turned her head. They finally reached a car. Helga knew it well from the outside. A dark blue thing.   
Modern. All that computer space-age crap shoved into it. Sleek, flowing lines. It had taken him every cent he'd   
ever earned-- she remembered him telling her-- just to make the down payment. Arnold's car. He went to the   
pasengers side, and, putting her down gently, but still supporting her with one arm, opened the door and put her in.   
When he closed the door, Helga noticed that parts of her wet hair had frozen into ice at the ends. Arnold got into   
the car quickly, and within a few minutes they were on the road with the heater on full-blast. Helga sulked,   
leaning her head against the window for support, arms folded tightly across her more then well-developed chest.   
She had grown to be 'A Knockout' as some people rudely put it. A tiny waist, rounded hips, legs that went on   
forever and almost platinum-blonde waist-length hair. Her days of unibrows and Pink Bows were long gone,   
and without them came a rush of sickening reality,   
"Where are you taking me?" she mumbled to him when the silence had become overpowering.   
"The Boarding House." he told her, "You need to get warm."   
"Since when did you become my doctor?" she said, her voice even and dead. They decended into silience once   
more. A sudden question nagged and Helga's thoughts,   
"How did you know where to find me?" she asked. Arnold chuckled a little,   
"I think they call it Fate." he said to her amusedly, and the rest of the ride was carried through without another   
word. When they reached the boarding house, Helga looked at him speculativly. She didn't think that anyone in   
the building would merely brush off the sight of Arnold CARRYING her into the home. He smiled,   
"They're all out, don't worry."   
He got out and carried her to the door. After opening it the same way he had opened the car door for her, he   
carried her to the living room and set her down on a sofa. Helga noticed her clothes were actually fairly dry by   
now. How long had she been with him? He walked out of the room and came back in record time with what   
looked like every towel and blanket he could find. Helga grabbed a few. Now that her clouded judgment had   
cleared, she realised that she wanted to be warm. He set the rest down near her,   
"You want some coffee?" he asked her, she shook her head,   
"No, but do you have any Tea?"   
He nodded any was gone in the next second. Helga felt a little strange about what was going on. Why were   
they being so casual about all this? She pulled a blanket tightly around her and curled herself into a ball,   
"I'll never be warm again." she muttered to herself half-heartedly, resting her head on the arm of the plush sofa.   
She drifted into thought. What was Arnold thinking about right now? Was he going to make her leave? She   
hoped not, she could barely move at the moment. But it's not like they were great friends. Sure, they still talked   
to eachother pretty frequently, but that was only because she was Phoebe's best friend, and He was Gerald's.   
Helga smiled fondly as she thought about those two. Everyone had known they were mad about eachother. And   
sometime around tenth grade, the insight finally travelled on to them. So basicly, Arnold was forced into seeing   
her. But their Cliques were as different as they could be. Arnold was the guy everyone liked, but he was really   
modest about it, and he hung around with the same type of people. Helga, with her newly-aqquired form, stuck   
around the people who everyone knew as Sluts, Bimbo's and Bitches. The core of popularity of the school. The   
people everyone else wanted to be like, although no one would admit to it. There were no real friends in that group,   
only enemies waiting to happen. She remembered a time that they had stopped talking to her for a while because   
she refused to give up Phoebe as a friend. But she had stood her ground, and they had finally let it go. Although   
ever time she would stop and talk to her Best friend in the hall they would walk away, hatefully muttering things.   
But Helga knew why. They hated Phoebe because she was smart AND pretty. They were just a bunch of looks.   
Hair, legs, face. You got what you payed for, a package of shallowness. They also were a bit uneasy with Helga   
because she refused to sleep around. She had had three boyfriends in the past few months, but they had all left   
her because she wouldn't 'put out', as they had so eloquently put it. Nice guys didn't exsist for her. The phone   
unexpectedly rang and Helga jumped. She could hear Arnold making a quick dash to get it and picking it up on   
the third ring.She could vaugely hear his conversation,   
"Hello? Lila... Lila, I told you not to call...I told you why...No Lila, we won't...Lila, I've explained this to   
you...How can you say that?!...Don't call her that!...Why? Because she's more then you ever could be!"   
Helga heard him slam the phone down and walk away. A moment later he came in the room with two mugs.   
Coffee for him, tea for her. He handed the mug to her and sat down beside her on the sofa. Helga looked him   
over. He seemed almost angry, but it wasn't with her. She took a sip of the warm, caffine-filled liquid,   
"What was that about?" she asked curiously. Arnold looked at her with a ghost of a smile on his face,   
"That was just Lila being herself," he said, now frowning in distasted,   
"Troubles in paradise?" Helga questioned, sitting up straight. She had never been one to ask him about his   
romantic relationship with Miss Perfect, but this was getting interesting. Arnold laughed into his mug,   
"Troubles? I broke up with her." he stated, as if the thought no longer held any pain to it. Helga covered her mouth   
in surprise, "What? Why?" she asked quickly, a little too quickly. Arnold looked at her, fascinated,   
"Why the sudden interest?" he asked. Helga looked into the tea, hoping it would give her the aswer,   
"Just because...you people seemed....Happy." she managed to stammer. Lord, she sounded idiotic. Arnold smirked,   
"I thought I was happy with her." he confided, "But there's someone else--"   
"Who makes you happier?" she finished off for him. He nodded, and Helga sneered in disgust,   
"So you're leaving Lila because you found better sex." she concluded sharply, and he looked at her, wounded.   
"Who said this had anything to do with sex?" he asked, pained, "I haven't even told the girl." Helga's eyes widened   
as she realised her mistake. Her eye darted away from him in disgrace,   
"Oh Arnold, I'm sorry--I didn't... I just thought..." she let out a dry sigh and Arnold smiled warmly,   
"Don't worry, I know how you got the idea."   
Helga raised an eybrow suspiciously, "What?"   
Arnold looked at her steadily, "News travels fast in our school, you know that. Almost everyone knows about Kyle,   
Craig and Mark." he said, naming off her three prior boyfriends. Helga set the tea down on a nearby coffee table,   
"That's not why I jumped." she whispered.   
"I know." he said, setting his coffee down too. She moved closer to him and looked up into his eyes. He had grown   
taller then her, and that was the only way she could do it. How could eyes stay so beautiful? You think they would've   
faded, but no. Still greener then Ireland and clearer then diamond.   
"And how do you know so much about me?" she folded her hands in her lap and watched him tentivly.   
Arnold gazed down at her, and Helga felt a strange jump travel through her body. Something was going on here,   
she just didn't know what,   
"For the same reason I jumped in after you." he replied. Helga dipped her head down, blinking, because the world had   
suddenly become misty,   
"You could've been killed," she scolded gently, "You risked your life, just to be kind. Why Arnold? Why?"   
Arnold smiled down at her, a smile filled with meaning and emotions Helga couldn't understand. Slowly, he reached into   
his pant pocket, and brought out the one thing Helga never expected to see again. The shattered locket, his picture   
still in it. Of course, he must of found it with her jacket. Helga gasped, but Arnold placed his fingers over her lips   
to keep her from saying anything more,   
"People do crazy things," he enlightened her, "When they're in Love."   
He removed his hand from her mouth and placed his lips on hers for a soft, gentle kiss. She felt his fingers tracing   
her jawline and her arms twined around his neck, bringing him closer then she ever imagined he would be. The   
kiss deepened, and she felt something, something that she had never felt. The emptiness she had once known became   
nothing but a forgotten nightmare. What replaced it was...the Warmth. A contentment. A calm, soothing solace   
that heated her soul. A single tear ran down her flushed cheek, and she felt his arm around her waist. Her eternal   
protector.And that's when she knew.   
She was Her.   
She was the one he loved. She could feel it. She could feel his mind, she could feel his   
soul, and she could feel his heart, beating in tune with hers. Finally, she could think of the pain she had endured no   
longer, because there was only the joy. They sat there for an immeasurable amount of time, after the bond between   
them had been made and their lips had parted. Her lying against his broad chest, crying openly, him whispering words   
of love to her, but never once stopping her from her tears. Because they both knew, they were tears of joy. Tears of   
the Utopia they had both found in eachother. Tears of a love the only a rare few can ever feel.   
They were tears of The Warmth between them.   
  
~*~The End~*~   
Oh mi... That was a little different then what I had originally intended. Okay, so it was a total plot change.   
What did you guys think? Kinda mushy? This is only my second single-parter, so If you   
guys don't like it, I'll improve on my next ones, Cross my heart! K, you know the drill from here on. You're done   
reading, now it's time to review. Oh, and I have good news! I found the long-lost text files I was talking about at   
the begining, so chapter Six of Understanding Helga should be popping up any time soon! ^_^ Joie! Good thing too,   
It's the begining of November, I love Christmas, and I'm begining to feel FESTIVE! Gotta start working on a   
Christmas story!   
So Till then, wishin' u,   
Luv   
Life   
Luck   
n' Lafta'   
~*~CD~*~


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